“What the fuck was that?” Keiran asked as soon as the door closed.

“Leave it alone,” Dash gritted.

They seemed to have some sort of staring contest and neither was willing to give in.

“Baby,” Lake called. She stood to lay a hand on his chest and started to rub in a soothing motion that defined how adept she’d become at abating his anger. “I’m really tired, and I know you must be, too. What do you say we get something to eat and relax while we wait for John?”

Her attention seemed to work when Keiran and Dash backed off each other. I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. The dynamic duo had never been at odds with each other until now. Ruining Keiran’s friendship with the only person who had been brave enough to stick by him all these years would have been the cherry on the top.

Lake led Keiran upstairs by the hand, and Dash left shortly after receiving a phone call. The tense look on his face only deepened so I knew the phone call couldn’t have been a good one.

“What do you say we get something to eat?” I asked Sheldon once we were left alone.

“I’m not hungry.”

“I can see your bones, so hungry or not, you’re eating.” I retrieved her clothes and ordered her to shower and dress.

* * * * *

I took Sheldon to a restaurant just outside the city that was known for their pancakes. I hadn’t realized all the little things I gave up when I left.

“I don’t see why we had to come out to eat,” Sheldon griped as we took our seats. We were seated immediately due to the late hour for breakfast. “I’m sure there is plenty of food in your kitchen.”

“I wanted to make sure you ate since you can’t take care of yourself, and it’s not my kitchen.”

“I can take care of myself. Anyway, why should I eat when I don’t even know if my daughter has eaten in a week?”

“So, starving yourself is going to bring her back? You can’t punish yourself.”

“No, I can’t, but only because you’ve been doing a good enough job of it for me.”

“Did you honestly think I would make this easy on you?”

“No. I’ve learned not to expect anything good when it comes to you. You wrecked me, Keenan. In more ways than one.”

The waiter came for our orders before I could respond. To Sheldon’s annoyance, not only did I order for her, but I also ordered an entire platter of breakfast all of which I knew she would never be able to consume.

“I can speak for myself, and I can’t eat all that.”

“Too bad because you aren’t getting up from this table until you do.” I smiled wide for good measure, which only served to piss her off more.

“You’re feeling incredibly sure of your power today.”

“Last night, I had my cock buried deep in your ass while you screamed for more… why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because it was a mistake that won’t be happening again.”

“It will happen again as often as I want it. It can happen now, right over this table if you don’t eat your food. My daughter is going to need her mother in good shape when she comes home. She doesn’t deserve to see you like this.”

That seemed to shut her up, forcing us into an uncomfortable silence. The waiter came with our food and we ate silently. I happened to look up from my food in time to catch her wipe a tear away.

“Does it bother you this much?”

My question seemed to break down the floodgates. “I need her back. I feel helpless because I don’t know where to look, and I don’t even know why she was taken from me, but what I do know is that she is with strangers who don’t know how to take care of her. What if she has a seizure?”

“She’ll make it through this.”

“How do you know that? You don’t even know her.”

“Because I know her mother. She’s grown into an incredibly strong woman who can fight.” I lifted her chin and forced her gaze on me. “And she’ll continue to fight because she knows that’s all she can do.”

“Why are you being so nice to me? Don’t you hate me?”

“I owe it to the daughter I’ve never met to keep her mother in one piece,” I said dismissively. I didn’t like the hopeful way she watched me. We weren’t living a fairytale anymore, and it was time she remembered that.

“You should fix yourself up. Crying made you look like shit.”

I managed to shock her into a stunned silence before a scowl transformed her features. She angrily pushed back her chair and stormed off to the back of the restaurant.